Weekend routine

Weekends are a nice break from the busy workweek....but in this house, still maintain routine. Friday afternoons, Kris usually picks the boys up early from their afterschool care and together they play outdoors, run to their favorite toys, or maybe down the street to their friend's house. I try to rush home as well, hoping the trains are on time, which usually by surprise, are on time. Friday night we go out to eat at one of our favorite spots--(Iron Hill Brewery or the Metropolitan). Both family friendly places to eat where kids even get dessert with their meals for a reasonable price. If going out seems like a chore and we are exhausted, we rely on our favorite pizza place (Montgomery Pizza) with the usual salad, garlic knots, and pizza. After a family meal together we all unwind with a movie. Friday night=Movie night. Kids shower and get in their jammies, I pull out my lap top and finish my work for the day next to them on the couch. Bedtime is consistently 8PM for Nathan and Ryan and they brush their teeth, say prayers, and hop in to bed. Kris and I usually have our movie night as well and a cocktail, if needed!!

On Saturdays, we sleep in to 730-8A. Yes, this is sleeping in, in this house! Coffee and breakfast. We can find the boys watching some cartoons in the living room on the couch. We get ourselves together while planning out our day. There is always a plan in this house! GYM TIME is next. Either I go to a class at Cross Fit Generation (my box for Crossfit) or we go as a family to the local YMCA. The boys go to the kids center where they get to play games, color, and there are always different activities they can participate in. Kris and I head to the weights and start weightlifting together. This lasts for about an hour, hour and a half before we grab the boys and either move on to the basketball courts, upstairs track, or swimming pools. This can certainly vary if they have sports that day, as we won't keep them there long and spend a longer Sunday day there instead. If we believe in exercise and a healthy lifestyle, we should be working with our boys as well. So, we shoot hoops, practice dribbling/passing the ball. This can be painful at times if one is wanting the ball or failing at basketball shots. But, we push through. Nathan and Ryan love running laps upstairs on the track and challenge us to running races constantly!! Trust me, you don't want to beat them, but sometimes you just have to :) In the pool, we let them do their thing as they are both good swimmers. We at times end up playing catch in the pool for a while, with the occasional close call of smacking some other innocent swimmer.

Coming home we are all hungry and have lunch. The boys end up playing with their toys inside or their neighborhood friends. I spend the afternoons on Saturday and Sunday trying to catch up from the work week with vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, laundry. Did I say laundry? Seems unending...but then again there is only four of us! The boys at times will be helpful with chores as well. I can usually convince one of them to vacuum upstairs (and sometimes they fight about it and we have to break it up). If Kris is doing outside chores with any man tools or yard work, they are "eager beavers" to get out and help. They love raking leaves, shoveling snow, or getting an opportunity to watch some "man project" being done outside. But, in the end, any mention of going to a friends' house will be an excellent motivator to get any wanted job done immediately :)

Lately, they have had basketball practices in the evenings, so Kris and I sit back and watch them play. It's nice to see the progression with barely knowing how to dribble to understanding how to pass, get their hands up and make some shots! Saturday evenings are typically pretty low key with a nice meal and perhaps a show or movie together.

Sundays are definitely a day of rest in the mornings. We (I mean Kris and I) try to sleep in with peace and quiet. Something I think we have earned in six and a half years with babies, then toddlers up alot of the night and early morning risers--some times as early as 5 or 530. Coffee, a nice big breakfast together with pancakes or waffles and fruit are a central point of our Sunday mornings. Late morning church is next and no rushing to get there as it's right across the street from us. Remainder of our Sundays are tying up loose ends with meal prepping for a nice Sunday meal or now weekly lunch meals. That's right. On Sundays, I prepare a large batch of oatmeal for my breakfast for the week. Kris is in charge of our lunches in which he meal preps with a protein, veggies, and small portion carb.

Snacks are packed for the week for the boys and their lunch made up the night before as mornings are too crazy here. The rest of the Sunday afternoons are either gym time or outdoor time. We've been pretty lucky here with reasonable weather even through the winter months with mild cooler temps. Playing soccer together as a family, catch or even tennis. Sometimes we let them loose at one of the large playground near us and go for long walks together. I think we are fairly active with our kids. Boys have lots of energy and we believe in ways in channeling that energy and preventing them from wrestling and fighting. I grew up in Southern Florida, so being outside constantly as a child is what I remember and doesn't seem too strange to me. So, in the end, this has been our "regular" weekends and what we know as normal. For some, it may be extreme and others, may seem pretty relaxed. But this won't last forever as the upcoming warmer months will bring a definite change of pace as we will begin our weekend adventures away with our camper and trips to the beach. I look forward to bringing you along to share these moments with you !